hauling old wooden boat with crane

[urisvan]

hello,
i would like to haul my old boat for bottom paint.
as you know there are two options;
1) to hoist it with a crane with using straps as belts.
2) hauling the boat by a sledge.

the first method is the common method that you can see in the marinas. but i think that it is not convenient for a wooden boat that has wine glass section. in round bilge boats the straps wrap all the bilge so the weight is distrubuted over the strap but on the wine glass section hull, the starp will touch the hull at the keel so put so much pressure to the joints of the wooden parts when you lift the boat.
But it would be very nice if i could find a safe way to haul the boat by the crane otherwise i have to sail a long way to go to a marina which has a sledge.
do you have any recommendation?

regards
ulas

[indianbayjoe]

need more info on the boat to make a determination but I have hauled just about everything with our travel lift with just 2 straps but the operator just needs to be careful. Also try and place the straps at bulkheads. For one boat in particular that was a little soft but very heavy, 40,000# we laid 2 X 6's about 4 feet long under the straps to spread the load. That was our max though. An old 45' matthews with twin diesels.

[urisvan]

she is a 31 feet long keel boat. but she is quite heavy, i think about 6500 kg. i have send 3 pictures of her.
I want to be sure what to do. Do you mean that you laid 4 feet timbers which have section of 2*6 inch? If so, where would you put that timbers, and how?

regards
ulas

[indianbayjoe]

I would normally pick up a boat shaped like that with one strap just forward of the mast and another at the forward end of the cockpit. The forward strap should be tied back to prevent it from slipping up the forward part of the keel. Also make sure the aft strap is on the lowest part of the keel. You could move them a little to ensure that they were landing on or near a bulkhead or stiff area but as soon as the crane takes tension they will slide some anyway. Some crane rigs will use a spreader cage and be able to double up on the straps so you could place them in the proper location. I use 10" and 12" wide straps which spread the load nicely. Some operators use double 6 or 4 inch straps but not me. Only that for a light boat. I would not normally add those boards under the straps for a boat that weighed that amount unless the hull in the area of strap contact beneath the water line was soft or there were broken ribs. We've never caused any new damage or accentuated any existing damage to any boat in 30 years except on that 20 ton matthews where we peeled the spray rail up as the forward strap stretched but it turned out to be rotten but now when we haul that boat we put carpeted spacer blocks under the strap above and below the spray rail to keep the strap off of it. solved the problem.

[urisvan]

thank you Joe,
please let me ask one more question: isn't it a bad idea to support the hull by using boards as double guaranty or in case of a soft contact area.

cheers
ulas

[indianbayjoe]

oh its not a bad idea but if the hull is sound then you would be ok without them. The reason we used them was because the hull we were lifting would start to cave in in the area of the strap due to many broken ribs and soft wood.

[gonzo]

Those boats usually have lifting eyes attached to the keel bolts. You put a double sling to them and lift the boat with a single cable. If that is missing, make sure you use spreaders on the straps. Otherwise, you may cause structural damage.

[urisvan]

hello Gozo,
what do you mean "spreaders on the straps"?

[urisvan]

i mean using the spreaders between fore and aft straps or using the spreader for each strap independently to prevent them squeezing the hull by making pressure to the sheers? or using both?

cheers

[gonzo]

Using the spreaders to keep the straps from squeezing the boat. You can use wood beams.

[urisvan]

ok, Thank you
will using long straps be enough?

[gonzo]

No, they will still put a lot of pressure on the deck and hull. It is fairly easy to get a couple of wooden beams with a yoke at the ends to hold the straps apart.

[urisvan]

thank you Gonzo
the last doubt : the all hull weight will be on the small area where the straps touch the keel and maybe at the turn of the bilge if straps touch the hull there. In a round bilge hull the straps warp all the hull so distribute the load. will it be a problem?

cheers

[gonzo]

It shouldn't be. If there is too much pressure on the rubrail, putting some blocks to spread the stress helps too.

[indianbayjoe]

Don't be worried about the stress on the keel from the straps. It will take it. Just make sure the crane operator spreads the load properly or as gonzo said, insert beams so as not to squish the hull.